Guinness Extra Cold

My friend, who many years ago first introduced me to beer, studied in London this past summer. The first night I saw him after he'd returned, before I could even ask him how it was, he said three words, "Guinness Extra Cold." That's all. I love Guinness, the only guy among my friends at school who will drink the dark stuff, but I'd never heard of Extra Cold. I thought the beer was just cooled down. Nay!

Here's more awesome Guinness Extra Cold ads.

Well, actually that's what it is. Guinness Extra Cold is normal Guinness fed through a super cooler until it reaches 3.5°C, which is like 38.3°F, just above freezing. For that reason, it has it's own draught tap at bars and pubs. Yet for some reason, people have this strange stereotype about British people that they like their beer warm.
From what I hear, from this one friend, the beer is so cold and smooth that it's almost thick. Some will complain that it's too cold, but their dumb, not that I've even tried it yet. So they may be right, but only time will tell.
I've been trying to figure out what to do when I first get to London and have time to kill before getting into my room. Usually, I like to do something authentic whenever I go somewhere, even though that suddenly sounds really pretentious. For instance, whenever I come home, I like to go to In N Out or a Taqueria. So, I was thinking, dreaming really, that the first thing I'll do when I get there will be to find a pub and get a beer, a legal beer, my first since I was last in London. But at 8 AM and being severely jet-lagged, that may be strange and/or moronical. I guess it can wait until later that night. Still, I'll probably have to get breakfast when I get there, seeing as it'll be the early morning (midnight at home). But an English breakfast? Probably not. I've heard they serve decent meals in pubs, so I might do that. I'll see if any nearby pubs have breakfast/Guinness Extra Cold.
At worst, Guinness found an excuse to come up with some kick-ass new ads, especially the video above. That's a play on my favorite ad of all time, which is here:

Garrett.